Changing Lanes, The Salton Sea and CQ

NEW YORK – Changing Lanes, The Salton Sea and CQ in The Foxlight.

Before Ben Affleck saved the world in The Sum of All Fears he had to sum up a little something for Samuel L. Jackson. The gritty little cat and mouse fender bender thriller Changing Lanes arrives this week on video and it shouldn't suffer much in the translation. Affleck is perfect as the "Sorry I hit you--buh, bye" guy. And Jackson is with him stride for stride in exacting a yuppie comeuppance.

Next, when is Vincent D'Onofrio going to get the huge break he deserves? He's almost unrecognizable as a tooth and brain impaired drug dealer in The Salton Sea. Val Kilmer wants to bring him down for a lot of reasons -- some of which actually makes sense. It's a stylish mess but worth a look just for some very odd cameos.

Finally, maybe it is in the genes. Roman Coppola is Francis Ford's son and Sofia's sister. Francis must be proud because this little movie about a filmmaker trying to get a Barbarella-like sci-fi movie finished must have reminded him of his early days in Hollywood. It's called CQ and it's one of my favorite movies of the year.